Mr. Speaker, economic opportunity comes in all shapes and forms. This summer it is coming to the Northwest Territories in the form of morel mushrooms, a delicacy highly sought after by food markets around the world.
Ultimately, Mother Nature will have the largest role in determining the success of our harvest. However, under the right conditions, we anticipate this harvest could generate as much as $10 million in the NWT this summer.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been working to prepare NWT residents to take advantage of this opportunity and keep some of these revenues within the territory.
In preparation, we have hosted 19 morel mushroom information sessions in communities where the impacts of the anticipated season are expected to be greatest. These sessions were overwhelmingly popular, with nearly 1,200 residents participating.
Those in attendance learned of potential harvesting areas, methods for gathering and storing morels and best practices for selling and marketing their harvest.
The sessions also emphasized the message of harvesting in a way that is safe, legal and respectful of the environment and Aboriginal peoples, whose lands some of these mushrooms will be on.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has worked with the NWT Association of Communities and the Government of Canada to produce a Morel Mushroom Harvester’s Handbook and field guides to ensure pickers have adequate
information at their disposal when they venture into the harvest areas.
On-site walking workshops have also begun and will continue until mid-June in areas where the mushrooms have appeared, to provide hands-on experience for those interested in harvesting.
I would like to extend my appreciation to the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for assisting us in also providing safety information for prospective harvesters venturing out this summer.
All of this information is now available in French and English on the Industry, Tourism and Investment website.
Mr. Speaker, while ITI has worked to prepare residents for this opportunity, it cannot guarantee a bountiful and prosperous harvest. Many other factors can and will impact the success of this year’s harvest.
Morels will need to meet or exceed certain standards of quality and consistency. Rain, the lack of rain, fire and cooler temperatures will have influences on the crop and the length of harvest that can be realized in our territory; and prices, determined by buyers, will similarly be affected by these elements and the economic principle of supply and demand.
Our territory has a proud history of resourcefulness and innovation. The quick development of a strategy and plan to realize the benefits of what could be a multi-million dollar morel mushroom harvesting opportunity this summer is a good example.
We are also a territory that believes in working together – as Northerners – and in partnership with those from outside of our territory.
I would like to recognize today Chief Lloyd Chicot and the people of Kakisa. In the face of concerns about the impacts that an influx of people will have on their community, they embraced the occasion, throwing a welcoming community barbeque for as many as 50 pickers in the area and sharing with them their traditional practice of catching and drying fish right out of the river.
It was an opportunity for pickers and residents to meet and learn more about each other and to agree on boundaries and practices that could be followed
in the mutual realization of benefits from this most unique and economic opportunity that has come to the NWT this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.